Kaoss Guitar, Korg Kaoss Pad / Epiphone Les Paul Mod

A plan began to form. How hard would it be to put the touch pad on a cable of some sort and then mount it on a guitar?

I’ve migrated unmaintained from Community Server to WordPress and intend to maintain it a little better. Seeing as how my Kaoss Guitar mod tutorial was one of, if not the most, popular post on unmaintained I’ve migrated it. At some point I will also convert the forum thread replies to comments on this post. I’m glad to see folks are still doing this mod and putting the resulting intruments to good use.

Checking my RSS feeds one day I came across a post on Music Thing regarding a Hugh Manson guitar with an XY midi controller in it. The demo video of this thing on YouTube had the pad controlling a Kaoss Pad, watching this as well as a Muse concert w/ another similar Hugh Manson guitar and a Radiohead show w/ the Kaoss Pad got me hooked. I needed one. Shortly there after I noticed one on good ol’ Craig’s List and picked up a Kaoss Pad 2 for $250 CAN ( sweet! ).

I want to stress that I’m not the first person to do this, perhaps the first to do it on the cheap at home, but props go to Hugh Manson and MJ Guitar Engineering both of who have made guitars with a simliar controller built in.

While the Kaoss Pad is fantastic in many ways, it’s not very friendly to guitarists in it’s natural state, I quickly realized this. One would have to have it on a stand of some sort to use it while playing, which wouldn’t do. A plan began to form. How hard would it be to put the touch pad on a cable of some sort and then mount it on a guitar? Usual disclaimer applies, if you break your gear don’t blame me. I suggest reading the entire article beforehand to get an idea of what’s involved.

Step 1, Proof of Concept

The first step I took was to ensure that this would work, at least to some degree by investigating the Kaoss Pad and connecting the touch pad through a cable. Personally I wanted to take this step before committing to a guitar however soldering at this step will most likely have to be redone when fishing the cables through the guitar since the connectors in most cases will not fit through the holes you drill.

Materials

1x Button

2x Female DB9 Serial Connectors

1x Straight Serial Cable Male to Male

1x Soldering Iron

Taking the Kaoss Pad Apart

I’ve got to hand it to Korg, they know how to put a device together. I’ve never been so pleased at the ease of which something’s come apart. There are 4 screws on the bottom plate, 3 screws on the rear of the pad as well as a ground wire screw and a whole lot more on the circuit boards inside. A mid sized Phillips Head ( cross ) screw driver will do them all. First, pop the three knobs off the face of the Kaoss Pad, these should come off rather easily with your fingers, then remove the screws at the rear and the grounding screw. Next remove the back plate screws and remove the plate. Lastly, remove all the screws from the circuit boards inside without removing the boards ( shown in red ).

Carefully slide the lower two PCB’s ( circuit boards ) upwards so that the mic and headphone jacks / knobs slide out of the frame, just let these little boards sit where they are once the jacks / knobs are out. You can then carefully move the main PCB slightly to allow removal of the rear PCB ( the one with all the inputs / outputs ) do this slowly and don’t move the main board very much. The touch pad is connected to the main PCB with a all fragile ribbon cable, the rear PCB is also connected to the frame to power the blue light on the top display ( you can disconnect this easily however you don’t have to in order to accomplish what we’re doing ). Once the rear PCB is out of the frame you should be able to lift the main PCB enough to disconnect the touch pad’s ribbon cable, make note of which side of the cable was face up when inserted into it’s connector. The white connector must be opened to allow removal of the ribbon cable, this is done by carefully gripping the edge of the connector and pulling in the direction as if you were pulling out the cable, but don’t pull the cable! just the connector, it will snap open and the cable should then slide out easily. Be very careful with this cable as it’s connection to the touch pad is fragile and in my experience these cables are delicate in themselves.

The touch pad is braced to the front of the pad with 4 metal brackets, carefully remove the screws and place these aside. You can then remove the touch pad. Put it somewhere safe and out of the way, I placed it in a ziplock to prevent dust getting into it’s panels.

Wiring Connectors

When disconnecting the screen you would have noticed the small white ribbon cable connector on the main PCB, if you can find one of these to purchase or scavenge from something, great! I was about to fashion a make-shift version when I realized I can just pop that one off the PCB. Removing components from a PCB can be a nasty task, a solder remover will help, perhaps a google search or two on this ( I’m certainly not an expert at it ). Make a note of which way the connector was facing on the PCB. Once this is removed ( or you’ve found a suitable stand-in ) we can start the soldering, run 4 wires from the 4 connections on the PCB where the screen connecter is/was to one of the DB9 connectors ( the red square in the image below ), I used pins 1, 2, 6 and 7 for this although it doesn’t matter as long as it matches the other connector. Next run 2 wires from the hold button solder points on the PCB ( the purple circles in the image below ) to 2 more pins on the DB9 connector.

This next part will most likely have to be resoldered when you mount the pad and hardware in the guitar so it’s up to you whether you want to skip it or not, I wanted to ensure everything worked so I when ahead and did it. Simply solder the button and the ribbon connector ( that you removed from the PCB or replaced ) to the remaining DB9 connector. Refer to the note you made on the placement of the connector on the PCB initially and solder the same leads to the same pins on the connector, make sense? Once this is done refer to your note on how the screen’s ribbon cable was inserted ( or visualize how it was ) ensure that the connector is in it’s open position, slide the cable in and then close the connector. All that’s left is to connect the serial cable and power on the Kaoss Pad, I suggest closing the Kaoss Pad ( sans screen ), before you do, trace the screen opening on the Kaoss Pad onto some paper for use as a template later. The DB9 connector can just hang out the screen opening for now. Don’t worry about replacing all the screws at this point you’ll probably open it up again. Hopefully you’re up and running with the touch pad on a cable now, proof of concept, proven. In the picture below I have replaced the missing pad with a some plexi-glass and mounted the connector.

Step 2, Guitar Shopping

Obviously you may be able to skip this part if you have a suitable victim in mind. I wasn’t willing to risk destroying one of my favorite guitars so I decided to purchase an affordable guitar for just this purpose. I settled on a used Epiphone Les Paul Special 2, it had enough space on the body and a nice flaw hiding black finish. Measure the screen size ( including it’s mounting frame ) and take a template shopping with you to ensure the guitar will have enough space. Also start thinking about button and connector placement. Ideally try to keep these away from the guitar’s own hardware to avoid electromagnetic noise, think also about drilling, you’ll have to drill from the screen cavity to the connector and it’s nice to have the button reside along this path.

Step 3, Hack the Axe

This step is where I’m sure many if not everyone who tries this will deviate from my approach. I’ve never done any wood work on a guitar before, I did this in a near complete vacuum of information, I was too antsy to research much. My plan was to just make a hole the size of the screen through the entire body then drill the path for the connector and button. You could accomplish this hack without making a cavity through the entire body and in retrospect I might’ve been better off, but having the full through cavity certainly helped with adjustments and allowed for less messing with the touch pad once it was in. I removed the strings, bridge, anything really that came off the guitar easily, depending on how you make the cavity you may want to remove tuners and pickups to avoid vibrations damaging them.

Here’s where you’ll all think I’m a lunatic, off to Lee Valley I went and purchased a number of chisels, taped off a template for the screen on the guitar’s body and went to town. Initially I was going to saw out the hole so I drilled out corners and went at it with a fret saw, this wasn’t working fast enough, hence the chisels. Drove my neighbors nuts for a couple nights and eventually ended up with a gaping hole through this poor guitar. I then “smoothed” out the cavity with a rasp.

The cavity should not be the size of the touch pad with it’s mounting frame, as the mounting frame should anchor the touch pad on the face of the guitar. So the main cavity should be slightly larger than the display area of the screen ( which you can reference from the opening in the Kaoss Pad ). On the face of the guitar I created a ledge where the touch pad frame would mount to, allowing the screen to sit flush with the face of the guitar. Also ensure that you create a space for the ribbon cable to loop around behind the screen, be generous for this as the cable is fragile, I used a slip of paper to protect the cable from the wood and chafing.

Once you’ve made this cavity ( or have had someone make it ) you can then drill a hole for the hold button and then for the DB9 connector. Save yourself a headache and design this so these two holes intersect.

I’m sure most of you can make this prettier, but as you can see, it can be rather horrible. This is all covered eventually by a frame/brace to hold the touch pad in on the front and a panel cover on the back.Step 4, Fabricating a Frame and Back Cover

The frame I made from a semi-translucent plexi-glass about 1/4 inch thick. I cut this with my trusty Dremel, then smoothed it out as best I could with a sanding bit on the Dremel. The center space of this frame should be exactly that of the original opening for the touch pad in the old frame ( a template you made previously ) the width of this frame is up to you really, as long as it is wide enough to accommodate screws which clear the edges of the touch pad. You can see in the image the frame in pink and the touch pad frame in grey. I never used the holes on the touch pad frame for mounting as the screws through the plexi glass held the screen in very well. Remember to always drill into the guitar body before screwing as you don’t want to crack the finish or cause undue stress on the surrounding body.

If you’ve made a cavity straight through you’ll need a back cover. I decided to cover both the original guitar cavity and the new two ( screen and button ) with one new cover. The back cover I used plexi glass as well, too thick in retrospect, you should find as thin as possible. Translucent helps as you can place the plexi glass over the guitar and simply trace the shape of the cavity. Lining the underside of the cavity with foil or copper tape can help shield the cavities, but you can do this later. Simply cut out the shape, make some screw holes ( remember to drill ) and you’re all set.

Step 5, Mounting the Touch Pad and Final Wiring

Without the pad in place try screwing your frame on, if all goes well then remove it, place the touch pad in, I kept the plastic cone behind the screen to distribute the LED light and for protection. I then checked the screen movement, in my case it gave slightly due to my sloppy work so I used one of the braces from the Kaoss Pad body ( which originally braced the screen ) to brace the screen from behind in the cavity. Ensure that you run the ribbon cable behind the screen when you mount it, careful that it is not chafing on anything and is safe from duress.

If you’ve already soldered the DB9 connector to the ribbon cable connector you can try to fish the ribbon connector through the hole you drilled, if it doesn’t fit ( or doesn’t look like it will ) you’ll have to undo the solder, fish the wires and then re-solder, I suggest fishing the button wires first through and out the button hole, then the wires for the touch pad. This is what I did. In the image you can see the touch pad’s ribbon cable inserted into the connector as well as some nasty soldering. An extra two wires you say? The Blue and Yellow wires are to power the blue LED, pick up any LED you like or set and the use the two pins closest to the ribbon cable, in the image yellow is positive and blue is negative. The positive lead on the LED ( the longer of the two LED wires ) should be connected to the lead the Yellow wire is soldered to in the image. The negative lead of the LED ( the longer wire ) should be connected to a 1K resistor ( brown-black-red-gold ) which should then be connected to the lead the Blue wire is soldered to in the image. The four wires for the touch pad connector should match the DB9 connections wired on the PCB of the Kaoss Pad ( as you can see you LED piggy backs two of these ). Wiring the LED wrong will cause a flickering LED and interfere with the pad signal ( however it didn’t wreck anything for me, neither did plugging the screen in upside-down which I did a number of times ).

I then held everything in place with some electrical tape. Place the LED where you get a desirable light. As you can see I lined the cavities with copper tape to reduce EM interference.

Originally I intended to mount the button properly with it’s nut and washer, however the hole I drilled was so snug I said t’hell with it and just soldered then worked it in, since the hole is through I can always push it out from behind.

Final Notes

There it is, throw the back cover on and you’re good to go. Let me know if something’s unclear, if you run into any problems I can offer advice in regards to how I did it, but I must admit I’m no electrical or fabrication expert.

124 Comments.

I know most people on this forum are looking to install themselves and are novices to this kind of mod, but is there anyone who might be able to install this for me? I do not have enough knowledge or experience to be able to trust myself to do this, and what makes matters harder for me is that I am looking at trying to install this to my SG. You might think I’m mad to ‘ruin’ the guitar by routing a hole in it, but I do not see the point in installing it in a cheap guitar when I would much rather have it in the guitar that I would normally play and not have to switch. If there is anyone who is interested, I will be willing to pay a reasonable price. Please email me at kieranballinger@live.com.

So I completed this project in my esp ltd guitar. It worked great for a few months and all of a sudden the pad is maxing out at 1.9 and not getting to 9.9. What could be the cause of this problem? The wiring is all still in place so i’m not sure what would have brought this problem on all of a sudden.

I am also in the middle of wiring up my own guitar, it’s telecaster style guitar, and I’m trying to wire a 3 way toggle switch to the pickups, and I really have no idea how, can anybody help me? I always get confused when people talk about”The ground wire”, can somebody explain to me what that is?

hi from England, love the mod, hoping to do it myself, do you get ay info online of have you learn it from old projects, and if you were to to this again, could make a video step by step, much appreciated

I’m having some troubles with the hold button. I installed a switch to toggle the hold on/off, but in order for it to actually change I need to flick it twice. Instead of the up position being on and the down position being off, I have to put it up and then down in order to switch it on and off. From the videos I’ve seen online people are able to simply push the button once or move the toggle once in order to get it to change, not twice. Any ideas of why this is?

1) how is the wiring set up from the guitar to the amp? is that just a normal guitar cable or does it go through the korg pad unit thats not in the guitar?

If you want to use the Kaoss Pad effects on the guitar signal, yes you must run the guitar signal at some point through the Kaoss Pad body, which is not in the guitar, it resides on my pedal board. Unfortunately the Kaoss Pad only has rca ( composite ) inputs for line in and line out so you’ll need a couple of adapters or you can use it’s mic in and headphones out which are 1/4″but you may end up with some gain ( buzz ) problems depending on signal levels, both headphone and mic jacks have level controls.

2) the connecters on the pad aint the same for the guitar cables and the amp inputs. i take it there are connectors or adapters to this?

Yeah, as I mentioned above you can get stereo rca to mono 1/4″adapters for in and out, although annoying it’s probably the best route. I’ve toyed with the idea of rewiring the 1/4″jacks for mic and headphones for use with line in and line out but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

No, they way I accomplished it the body of the Kaoss Pad is on my pedal board, the guitar connects to it and it gets power from it’s regular adapter.

2-I think Matt has the program memory keys in his guitar, why don’t you have? Wouldn’t it be easier to use different programs?

To my knowledge, the Manson guitar which Matt uses has a hold key just like I put on mine, this allows you to freeze the effect position on the Kaoss Pad, if there are further Kaoss Pad controls ( there are controls for the Fernandes Sustainer ) on that Manson guitar I don’t know about them ( I doubt there are since they say technically it’s not a Kaoss Pad on that guitar but a midi X/Y controller which controls a Kaoss Pad not on the guitar ).

I’ve finally gotten colour changing LED’s working, however it currently affects the voltage on the touchpad ( causing the touch pad X/Y to max out at 7/1 instead of 9/9 ) I’m going to try running them off the battery for the sustainiac instead. Video to come soon, but here’s the circuit diagram I whipped up.

I’m afraid I don’t have part numbers for these items. You could print out this list and take it to any electronic shop they will be able to provide you with these supplies. The LED’s I purchased on eBay follow the link in that post to the seller.

I’m carrying out the same thing you did basically, just at first I dont think i’m bothering with a hold button, I may do though.

The difference is I’m carrying out the mod on a KP-1.. mostly the same, although the boards look quite different. Guessed my way so far. Am currently ready to start soldering /desoldering stuff. Seperated the screen and main unit, hacked my guitar, made a makeshift

Can i ask how tricky is removing that ribbon screen connector thing (white slide locking connector for the touchpad to the PCB)? I intend on tryin it with just a soldering iron, solder sucker and hopefully nothing more, just pull the thing off when its unsoldered / solder is molten.

But its worth me checking before hand anyway. Is this method likely to fry my KP-1′s components without fail? Am I likely to suceed if I just be a bit careful with the soldering iron contact duration times? Do you really need to ‘clean’ the terminals with wierd alcohol. Anyway.

Also, I havent got the facilities to make a particuarily effective casing. It currently resting (held kinda by the rough chiseled edges of the hole) where it fits in the big gapin hole, and I built a cover from video box plastic. I’ve lined the hacked hole with PVA to avoid the sawdust and shavings getting into the pad or electronics I’m making, will this be adequate?

Or without secure casing above and below the sides will it screw up realy quick?

Any helps or tips would be appreciated.

I’ll try to get some pics or something so theres a reference for doing this with a KP-1 (and a softbodied semi-hollow 6 year old 100 quid tanglewood).

Desolding components is always tricky, you’ll be able to do it with an iron and a sucker just go slowly, suck as much solder out as you can and then heat and gentle push each of the leads from behind moving constantly between them to slowly work the connector out.

In regards to casing, as long as the pad isn’t going to move when you use it and the ribbon cable is not in danger than you should be fine. I would really suggest the hold button though, comes in really handy. Some pics would be great, a few folks have asked about the KP1, I’ve not opened one so I couldn’t be sure.

Great work with the Kaoss pad mod, it’s really something else. But before I commit to buying one and taking it apart etc, I have a few questions:

1) I just picked up an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, which is obviously similar in shape to a Special II, but the center of the face is raised (I guess you’d call it a contour?) Does the Special II design have this. If so (or not), how could this problem be overcome when making a frame for the pad?

2) Is there a way to overcome the two cable system and have both the guitar and pad signals pass through one lead?

3) I see you have colour changing LEDs working. Is there a way to make it so that the colour changes depending on the chaning parameter values, like when you use the Kaoss pad normally? (please ask for clarification if needed, I’m not sure how to phrase this)

im bulding a guitar with this modification in it and just have a few questions about the LED display behind the pad.

firstly i am going to have the LED circuit separate from everything and just running off a separate battery with an on/off switch. ( this is so that it wont interfere with pad signal/voltage). so i was wondering do i need those other components (resistors etc) or could i just hook the LED’s up to the battery and switch? and what type of battery(s) would i need to run the auto change RGB LED’s?

The trusty white connector is the same, i think. And there are still 2 layers to the PCB. I’ll need a closer look about the hold button i guess, hopefully it should be obvious.

The main other difference I noticed was the number of screws! Thats what had me thinking *wait, he’s done it with a KP2*. that and the sample buttons!

Most my tools should arrive tommorow, so I’ll defo keep stuff posted on my blog up there, and will keep you updated on any interesting discoveries I make concerning the electronics. and no doubt appear at 4am with urgent electronics SOS requests when I get fried components.

1) I just picked up an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, which is obviously similar in shape to a Special II, but the center of the face is raised (I guess you’d call it a contour?) Does the Special II design have this. If so (or not), how could this problem be overcome when making a frame for the pad?

I think the Special II does have this very very slightly, hrm, I didn’t have to worry since it didn’t seem to affect anything. If the curve is pronounced you may have to bend the frame to match, or use a slightly flexible plexi-glass or other material.

2) Is there a way to overcome the two cable system and have both the guitar and pad signals pass through one lead?

There are custom 1/4″cables which can carry more than 2 leads however you’d need at least 6 and I’m not sure if these are available and would work very well. If you wanted to replace the entire 1/4″audio jack you could use any connector that has 6 pins, I’m not sure why I went with DB9, probably just because I had some around.

3) I see you have colour changing LEDs working. Is there a way to make it so that the colour changes depending on the chaning parameter values, like when you use the Kaoss pad normally? (please ask for clarification if needed, I’m not sure how to phrase this)

This would require moving more of the circuit to the guitar, alternatively you could build a mic into a small circuit which would alter the LED’s based on sound.

firstly i am going to have the LED circuit separate from everything and just running off a separate battery with an on/off switch. ( this is so that it wont interfere with pad signal/voltage). so i was wondering do i need those other components (resistors etc) or could i just hook the LED’s up to the battery and switch? and what type of battery(s) would i need to run the auto change RGB LED’s?

Sure, you should just be able to use a 9V battery with a resistor for each LED.

Hot beats! Looks good so far, great to have a step-by-step for the KP1. I love the fact that it’s just as haphazard and insane as mine was,

And then I hacked. Mostly just piled it in with a hammer half way and came back on myself to pull chunks, then just hacked in, twisted to get a bit under the surface and just, worked little chunks out to get it square. I didnt make it go through the back, saw no need for that.

but for mine im having a plate made out of a mirror thats the same shape as the guitar body fror the front. a local mirror windows and doors place is doing it got me, ill post it when iv completed my project

Well, I rushed but finished soldering all wiring to everything else, i guess I need a multimeter (i just realised there while i wrote) to check but, i thought It was pretty sound it took ages.

Sadly I aint got a serial cable to connect and test the 2 pieces together, and nowhere near here sells them, they all jus gave me a wierd look and said”er. nobody bothers with serial anymore mate”. Then they asked ‘whats it to connect like?’ but i realised if i even half answered his question, he’d wish he never asked. Bottom line I’ll have to buy one of good old ebay and wait til next week to test it properly.

But i am impatient, and tested it using a few wires with stripped ends. I hooked the wires from a neccesary (as in one of the 4 pins I used to connect the wiring previously) pin on one port to the same numbered pin on the opposite port, plugged them in best I could, till they went kinda far and sometime locked in slightly.

I switch it on, press the pad, WAHEY, we have a reaction light on the KP PCB, so thats working, but sadly… the dimensions seem irrelevant. it doesn’t seem to be getting anything from the x & y axis, when I press it it just stays on 1,1 regardless of where my finger is pressing.

It sounds like, and I’m hoping it is, a problem with the wiring. If theres a break anywhere along the line with the lines that control the x and y (and the other 2 for when its on two modes) it would figure that there was no signal. I hope i’m also correct that its more likely if I’d broken the sensor pad itself, surely it would either not work at all (and so wouldn’t do its usual light up when you touch it thing) or maybe malfunction somehow to give a wierd location.

In good time I’ll post up my PCB step by step by the way, took pics but my PC upstairs kept crashing every few mins when I wrote.

But anyway,

If you have any ideas at all, except from checking the circuit mods using a continuity tester which I’ll do soon as possible, particularly if you came across the same issue at any stage, or even better, if you found this to happen when you hadn’t finished connecting all the wires..

If you could somehow insulate one of the active pins on your own serial cable that’d surely tell if the broken circuit idea is correc,t but that could be tricky, but aye just any help would be great.

I screwed up the connections a number of times to no ill effect ( had the ribbon cable inserted upside down ), ensure that you’re not reversing the connections, remember that the ribbon cable flips. All I can really say is that you should double and triple check the wiring between the two connections. Some pics may help if possible.

but for mine im having a plate made out of a mirror thats the same shape as the guitar body fror the front. a local mirror windows and doors place is doing it got me, ill post it when iv completed my project

now that its generally working, I wanna add the FX and HOLD buttons (FX so that you can sample with the guitar)..

Is it okay to sorta, just add in parallel my own push-to-make (momentary) button switch on top of the solder work for the one korg put on the pad, for the hold at least, FX button can wait although it’s probably the same anyway.

I tryed to take the switch off completely but it just wouldn’t go for some reason :S was wierd.. seemed glued but, wasn’t, unless it had some sorta clip fixing i couldn’t see…

Either way I could just wire a hold button in parallel and I *guess* that’d work yea? because it’d just remain normally open, like the other, then when you press it it’d provide another route for the current to reach the other side of the switch back on the pad, causing the hold switch to toggle on or off? am i right?

I’m just asking because I’m making assumptions, such as that its even a PTM, or the way the kaoss pad works.

I’m also wanting to put an on/off LED for the hold button on the guitar, that can be done using the same method as transporting current for the touchpad and hold button yeah? it will probably be dim unless I remove the LED on the pad, maybe it wont.

I posted this on YouTube as well, but thought I’d post it here since I don’t know how often you check over there.

Great job with this mod, you’ve taken it to a whole new level! The color-changing LEDs are amazing. Two questions. First of all, could this be done with a Kaoss Pad 3? Secondly, is there any chance you might make a guide for”dummies”like myself? I have no real knowledge of soldering or electronics – tried it once and it didn’t really work but I’d really, REALLY like to do the same mod. Probably with the exact same equipment since the guitar’s cheap enough. Thanks in advance!

i was just waitin on a reply from phil an checking back, noticed you wanted a for dummies guide…

not sure if its quite what you wanted, but thats almost exactly what i’d been tryin to make at my blog, i did it with a KP-1, but i think im pretty much in your position. Since then, ie.. a few weeks back, i’m actualy prety confident with electronics… so i gues best way would be to try to solder some crap together, or tryin rippin a few compoentns off an old unused cheap tacky bit of a electronics without meltin everythin or snappin out, or touchin stuff…

I thought plenty of times i’d blown the pad with too much heat or static from my hands or somethin but, never did.

Have a look, it might be handy, but phil’s certainly more likely to tell you a correct way of doin it i’d imagine.

and as i was flicking through the replies i noticed someone said something about goin wireless,i believe it would be possible to make it wireless via a wireless plug with a db9 connecter, the problem occures at the other end, because you are unable to easily turn the bluetooth signal back into a db9 signal. Anyway someone might like to investigate, but meh.

Wellllllllll, I used a DB9 connector, but the link you referenced is for RS232. RS232 is a serial data protocol, the connection with this guitar is basically a voltage level from the touchpad, an RS232 interface would simply not function. However, if someone wanted to write a conversion routine for a PIC chip they may be able to utilize an RS232 wireless soultion. Bah, wireless, isn’t a crazy guitar and lights enought that you don’t have to dance around?

It’s a great concept. I’m going to create my own now! Fortunately I have access to a router and a guy with a masters in EE. Two things that look like they’d help a lot with this project.

My plans are to put together a new guitar from scratch, buying the body/neck/hardware all separate. One thing I’m wondering is this: technically your delay/modulation effects are supposed to come at the end of your signal chain (ie lineup of pedals). Is there a feasible way to make this happen with this type of setup?

Also, I’ve read a bit about Matt from Muse and his setup. It appears as though he had an XY midi controller installed in his guitar, which in turn controls the Kaoss 2 on his board. I’m thinking about doing this move as it seems like it could be a easier. Having trouble finding an XY controller by itself though.

Do you guys think it could be possible/smart to mount the entire kaoss pad in a guitar? I guess with the whole power thing you would have a mess of cables running out of your system (but might be able to do some sort of”snake”thing). I really like the concept of this and want something that’s road-tuff and won’t fail on me. I get emotionally attached to consistency in my gear…and get all in a tizzy when things don’t do what they’re supposed to.

Once I embark on this project I’ll make sure to document and post everything. My goal is to make the thing as smooth and foolproof as possible. Any additional ideas and/or upgrades are definitely welcome!

Phil, amazing job with this mod. Really great stuff. The only things missing now are wireless and the lights behind the pad changing according to where on the pad your finger is. After two months nonstop researching every forum on electronics, lights, and MIDI. After consulting with teachers at my college with doctorates in digital audio, physics, and electronics, I have no solution.

Here is what I know regarding MIDI and the KP2:

1. The KP2 does not transmit or receive note number (true voice) messages, or velocity (note on, note off) messages.

2. The KP2 DOES transmit pitch bend (this is what I believe needs to be used to control the LEDs), control change, and program change.

Also, I’m going to be replacing the DB9 with a cat-5 ethernet cable. I’ll let everyone know how it goes. Should be no problem, just a little smaller ends.

Well i haven’t fully discovered what it can do, but i like all modulating effects (#10-#19), some synth effects kick ass (also it’s a bit tricky to get the right sound at the right time ) , #43 and #44 can be cool when used with the hold button…

Got a korg AX1500 multi effects pedal too, mixing effects from it with effects from the kaoss pad can be rather cool

At this time there’s no entire song but i’m trying to get some cool stuff and put it here and there in my band’s music, i’ll let you know when we put something online

btw have you deactivated video responses for your first you tube video ? I’ve tried to post my video as one, but didn’t managed

looks cool man. i wish i had a working guitar to put mine in and finish off.

As for the XY axis, i’ve had nothing but wierd problems with mine! I’d of guessed your wires could be backwards. In the sense that its very easy to accidentally mirror the connections due to the many different ways you can look at the serial connectors, I found anyway.

Looks groovy though, is it KP2? Mine had broken for ages after I got it out the guitar, just fixed it this evening. I think my pad is starting to screw up though as it requires quite a bit of pressure sometimes, i think its a good idea to make sure that if you’re storing the pad, its tightly pressured together, as this is how it is normally kept inside the KP, in a world where people are sensible with triple figures of pro audio equiptment

Now I’ve seen this on a few Manson guitars, but they seem to be using a MIDI X/Y controller and going into the MIDI input of a Kaoss Pad. Does anyone know where you can purchase a separate touchpad like this? I’m going to incorporate this into the next guitar I build, but I’d rather do it with a separate touchpad without butchering my KP if at all possible.

you have an interesting plan, but unfortunately, there probably is not a way of getting around butchering a kp2. but more importantly, even if you were to get a pad somehow without ripping it out of a kp2, what is your plan for having it be able to send midi messages? It’s output is going to be that 4 wired ribbon cable, not a midi-out port.

but don’t get me wrong, you seem in the right direction, and i hope you succeed. that m1d1 manson video definitely looks like the pad just uses a midi cable to go to midi-in of that kp2. but doing it that way will cost you twice as much, since you’ll have to get at least the pad from another kp2 (or maybe a regular kaoss pad). good luck though, and keep this forum in touch with your progress.

hey, well korg spares informed me that their replacement screens for the KP-1 are also the same as that for the 2 + 3 as well, so that means that although the motherboard is likely to have some minor differences on the KP3 to phil’s KP2 guide or my KP-1 one, which differ slightly, the working and concept itself is exactly the same, and you’d just wire the serial port and everything up the same as for any other one, as the pad uses the same amount of electrical out/ins to the KP-1 (4 connections).

hi phil, i’m looking at doing this again using the existing kp mod in a new epiphone LP special… would drilling to make initial gaps in the wood pose a greater threat to parts of the guitar than chiseling from the start? Also, i’m a bit confused over the frame you made for the KP. I previously had mine simply not, wedged but firm against tape-covered wood with a slight step in places that held it up, then a thin black plastic cover over that covering the edges slightly stopping it falling forwards.. I’d love to put a neat step in like another guy that did his mod an posted recently, but unsure how to achieve this…

anyway, your help on wha tyou’d suggest in retrospect is probably the best course of action for the body of an Epi LP Special 2, and also whether you’d really recommend I try to do what i did before and not go right through to the back.. from what you achieved with your chisel, would chiselinga neat step, and or a cavity that did not go all the way through. I guess i could in theory drill a small hole then chisel out but that’d have to go all the way through to be effective. anyway, cheers for your help, look forward to hopefully getting something as neat as yours.

Can you clear up the soldering of the ribbon from the pad? When I removed the pad, the ribbon came away from the white plastic clip it was attached to. I see you have reattached this clip in the guitar – how is this attached? I wasn’t too keen on soldering the ribbon directly into place – could you clear this up? Do you attach the ribbon to this clip and then solder the wires from the DB9 to the side of the clip which was originally soldered to the main PCB board (if that makes sense?!) ? (apologies if I’m asking a dumb question here - my basic electronics skills are woeful..).

–In addition to the pad transplant I also want the”Hold through Rec/Stop”buttons, the”FX Depth”knob and the”Pad Motion/Mute”switch applied to my Gibson SG. Or, possibly make the sampling buttons correspond to a 4-switch foot pedal while still frankensteinning the FX knob and Mute switch.

1: The KP2 has room on the left side of the chassis to mount a 25 pin serial connector so you can wire up the pad and up to 10 buttons to be controlled externally (including the 8 program memory buttons).

2: The Dremel”High Speed Cutter”carbide bits with the router extension will rout deep enough into wood to provide an adequate cavity for the touchscreen without having to chisel all the way through your guitar. This will help minimize the tonal impact the pad will have on the guitar, even more so if you leave out the LED’s and only rout for the touchscreen.

3: The”hold”button is remarkably effective when wired up as a stompbox. In fact the small chassis that Small Bear sells works out fantastically as a housing for both the”hold”and”tap/BPM”buttons for those of you who want to take advantage of the BPM effects in a guitar scenario.

4: The KP2 will save your”hold”button and”FX depth”settings so that you can recall all of this with the”program memory”buttons. This is remarkably effective for a guitarist if you wire up the”program memory”buttons to momentary footswitches. This feature is especially handy for recalling your settings if you screw around on the pad without changing programs at all.

5: Almost any 4 wire resistive touchscreen will work for this project. This includes many PDA touchscreens on ebay that end up selling for just a few bucks, as well as larger computer monitor touchscreens that would be better suited (than the smaller screens) for mounting on a stand of some sort (for those who don’t want to tear into a guitar).

6: Try and use some type of”true bypass”on the Kaoss Pad when you don’t plan on using it. It really is a tone sucker.

I’m thinking about integrating a kaoss pad in my guitar and also this kind of colour changing led system but I would have some question. Actually I don’t understand why you need the 2 condensers. Did you need this cause you was pluged to the kaoss, so you have to reduce the disturbances ?

Also I would like to change the speed of the colour changing thanks to a potentiometer. would you have a schematic for this ?

Because as long as I don’t know how the led are designed I can’t really say how I can do this. Thank you very much

Hey Phil, awesome guide – I was just wondering, when you use the LED, you said it piggybacked from the screen’s power right? If you had 3 of the 9 pins left over, wouldn’t it be possible to run the KP2′s proper LEDs wired up through 2 of these? Was there a reason you didn’t do this or isn’t it possible?

another Englishman here. I’m new to the whole guitar modding thing, so i am enlisting the help of several friends with skills in electronics and carpentry to help me along the way so that I can have a nicely finished guitar.

If anyone has the measurements of the kaoss (kp2) touch pad that would be fantastic as i do not have mine as of yet and i’d like to get on with as much preparatory work as possible.

Hi, i really want to do this a a guitar im going to buy a cheap les paul so i dont get confused lol but anyway i have a few questions too ask (by the way i havent read all of this yet because i havent had the time)

1. what kaoss pad did you use

2. could you tell me how i could put a kill switch on the guitar especially for the kaoss pad

3. how could i make it wireless so i dont need two leeds, i only want one

4. what does the extra button do

5. what do you do with the rest of the kaos pad after putting the touchscreen part on the guitar

Hey I was thinking of doing this as a summer project with my Starcaster. I know, its not that great of a guitar, which is why i want to do this with it. Only problem is, im not sure if this will fit? Maybe I could use a mini-kaoss if i needed to.

Thanks, HP

P.S.

It would be awesome if some1 did this and got video and/or step by step pics (like more specific than these), it would make it a lot less confusing.

Then it’s likely a KP2 will fit… This way you can tell from an online photo or your own guitar.

There are some people who’ve used a mini-kp although I’m not sure if there’s any instructions online.As I go along making mine, I’ll take some in-depth notes and photos and maybe post them online for people, although I doubt I’ll be able to explain it any better.

Sweet, thanks Oddbod. Looks like there’s room. Maybe i can find a Guitar Center or somewhere that carries them and measure them and compare it to the space under my bridge.

About the pictures and notes, i’m not saying this is good (its great really), I really just like having a good amount of step-by-step pictures that i can constantly reference to. I’m only 15 and i’ve never done any intimate wood or tech working. I know the basics of soldering from watching my dad do it, but i have never done it myself.

Granted, my guitar isn’t great, in fact some would say its crap, but i’m still nervous because i use it, and its decent, no matter what other people say. I can say with absolute certainty that i will not be doing this with my Gibson LP.

I also have another question. When you mount the connector onto (in this case, plexiglass), did you just drill two screws into the plexiglass and screw them into the connector? And i just saw something about it, what’s a sucker? For the solder. Sorry for the questions but i like to clarify before i do something. Im really cautious.

I assume you mean the DB9 connector onto the plexiglass? If so, you can get some special screws that will allow you to fasten it in place, but still let you screw the cable in.The Plexiglass onto the Guitar is just screws – I’d recommend three down each long side.

A ‘sucker’ is a de-solder(ing) pump. You heat the solder up and then use the ‘sukcer’ to remove the solder if it’s wrong or no longer needed.

However, because we (me and a friend) are rather strange, we opted to replace the guitar jack, rather than add a D-sub, so the guitar signal is now carried down the D-Sub. This is a complicated thing to explain how to do, so I’d recommend going by what Phil says…

In the next few weeks, we’ll be carrying out a KP2 mod so I’ll send you the pics of the process; although it’s likely you’ll be doing it slightly differently – all the same the pics will show you how to take the KP2 apart and fit it into the guitar etc…

So I have decided to begin this project in the upcoming week or so and I have a few questions and want to know if anyone has any advice before I dig in.

1. Anything that anybody would/should have done in retrospect?

2. I know I want the hold button, but say I want the memory buttons, sample buttons, etc too… Is it as simple as the wiring of the hold button that paul explained or is there more to it? (I am planning on using db15 so i have room for things like that)

3. Does having a loop station or a Fernandes/sustainiac open up opportunities for the kp2 since you have a repeating or sustaining sound to play with?

4. Off of the kp2, I have heard of people putting like MXR phasers right into the guitar. Do they just extend the input/output wires and place the circuit board under the kp2??

I don’t know about what button you should use but it looks like the epiphone should be fine, as long as the wiring for the pots doesn’t get in the way. Honestly, seeing how the silverburst Les Paul is so nice, I would personally mod the Dean. But thats just me.

hey, your guide is brilliant although i havnt started it yet. Im getting a kp2 soon and i’m just making a plan for construction and i’m a bit unsure in a few areas. (sorry if people have asked before but you have got pages of replys)

firstly am i on the right track by saying that initialy the sound is coming out of the guitar going down to the kp2 to be processed and then going back to the guitar and then towards the amp, with the pad (and switch) just having longer wires between itself and the processor. if so then great.

also, what precautions should i take when making the cavity (wood/finnish splitting)

what material is the the thing made of, i might put db9 connector somewhere else.

can you help me with ideas of mounting the pad as your thing looks difficult to make.

is the wiring pretty much straight forward and does the pad get powered through the db9?

lastly, how did you mount the switch and db9 jack

looks good though, well done, iwas inspired by matts manson, i’d love to own a manson

I am part way to finishing my kaoss guitar (it’s still being made). I have a custom tele and will add the pad myself. I have made a true midi circuit for this such that I don’t need to hack my kaoss pad.

I now have the pad (from an old KP1) and hold button working through midi to a KP3. I’m just writing code now for a rotary switch to control program change – will be usefull to have a knob on the guitar for this!

I have taken the rotary switch from my old KP1, but i’m sure you can buy similar switches. The one I have has the same shaft as a CTS pot, so will fit a guitar knob.

For the pins question: with midi all data is sent through one pin. There is then a pin for power and a ground pin. 2 pins are unused. My pad and hold switch feed into a microcontroller which convert the raw data into digital midi serial data and send it through the data pin. With midi I can control any other midi device with the pad and hold button. When it is finished I will be able to control say a digitech whammy bar with the pad as well.

phi.lam64, the mini KP looks like it could fit into a guitar body in its entirety.

Gazlang, I like the idea of having the pad be an x-y midi controller rather than just being for the KAOSS (I know the KAOSS can then in turn be used for MIDI, but it just doesn’t seem quite as clean a solution) what kind of circuitry did you need? Your youtube video page now says the vid has been removed.

I was wondering if there is a way to mod your guitar using 2 kp1′s ? So you can use the XY-pad from 1 as a MIDI controller for other devices (made mention in the youtube Mason guitar clip) rather then modding again when i get a kp2 or easier still just hook it up to a kp3 without destroying yet another kp1/2 and so on…. just to avoid more mess and modding when I get the other kaos units… (when I has the $$$ for a kp3)

[Yes I can get 2 kp1's for MUCH less then a kp2, which is why I'm opting for this solution, rather then using just the 1 kp1/2]

I hope that makes sense……. and thanks to everyone for your time and patience, this thread has been a great help so far, much obliged.

i’m sorry if i don’t read all this forum. but i got an idea (that’ why i write it!).

i would like to do”Korg Kaoss pad mod that could not be mount in the guitar but just fixed in the table in order to use it under my 3 guitars…but i also want to keep the korg touch screen inside the module.(because i use it with my yamaha rm1x)

So, my idea is very basic but i need some help.(i’m an electronics specialist):

First, if someone got the technical information about the krog touch screen in order to find an equivalent

i just finished putting a mini kp in my guitar today. i used a mini because the screen is thin and flexible so i could put it on my guitar even tho the top is curvey. you dont even have to make a cavity for it really except for the cable. you just screw it on top, because its only maybe a millimeter thick. its was way easier to do than i thought tho. thanks to phil for the howto ))) it gave me the courage to try it myself XD

I really am making this mod late in the game, after wanting to for quite a while I can now afford it. There is just one part that I can’t get through my thick head-about the ribbon cable.

- I have just opened the KP to look at the guts and didn’t really follow how to disconnect the ribbon cable. Do I take off one side of the ribbon cable and leave one side attatched to the pad (which is then put in the guitar?), or leave one side attached to the PCB?

-Also, how are you supposed to connect a ribbon cable to a DB9 connector? does the ribbon cable connect to wires through that white box first?

Sorry I don’t get it. I would be eternally grateful if Phil or anyone else in this forum who has done the same thing could explain this.

Oh and by the way, James. If you haven’t done this yet or are even still listening to this forum, I put a Zvex fuzz factory into my guitar and will be posting a blog about how to do this very soon.

S’cool to see folks still doing this mod, now that there’s a commerical production model from Manson. It’s been a while, but in general, be careful with the ribbon connection, they are quite fragile. You need to use your nails to grip the mounted connector ( not the cable ) from the sides and pull slightly so that the connector is”opened”once opened the cable should slip right out. To connect the cable to the DB9 you will need to remove the white box, this is the connector you will move to inside the guitar, the wire from the DB9 on the pad will then connect right to the solder spots where the white box connector was soldered.

To remove the white box is tuff, disconnect the ribbon cable, then heat with the soldering iron back and forth on the solder side of the white box while gentley tugging on it, slowly and surely the solder connections will heat and soften and allow you to wiggle the box connector free, don’t try to force this, use the soldering iron heat to melt the solder as you go. Good luck!

hiya, great instructions, im in the process of carrying out the mod myself thanks to your guide, but would it be possible to label the pictures regarding the soldering of the DB9 connector cable, and the led?

Hi Phil (and everyone, and anyone who can help me by answering this!),

Absolutely great stuff! I’m looking to do one of these mods for a friend of mine (who, no doubt, idolizes Matt Bellamy!), but I need a few things cleared up before we seriously get to work on it. I guess what I’m wondering is, it seems that most of the guitars I’ve seen on youtube with this mod have just the screen (and maybe the Hold button) on the face of the guitar’s body, but then everything is connected to the kp2 (or whatever they use) that’s lying on the ground, or effects/pedal board. Well, is there a way to do this mod that keeps everything in the guitar’s body, so that nothing is outside the guitar? Like, integrate each part of the kp2 into the guitar, so that the effect can be changed without having to reach over to the kp2′s”skeleton”(if you will). I realize that there are a lot of controls on the kp2 to realistically represent on the guitar’s body, but I’m just wondering, because I see this device as being most efficient and convenient with everything in the guitar, and I wouldn’t want to have to reach over to change anything. If there are simply too many buttons and whatnot on the kp2, then, would a mini kp be better? Its size may make it easier to fully integrate into the body, and though there are some features missing (including LED lights), it may have everything we need.

Sorry for such a lengthy post, but I’m hoping clearness will help with a reply haha.

Oh! And, did you find that a specific pickup (humbucker, preferably) works well with the kaoss pad?

The KP1 has been successfully done a couple of times. In theory the KP3 and Mini will work, but they’re still untested. I’m going to purchase a KP3 in the near future and see if I can wire it up to be interchangeable with my KP2 in my rig. I won’t have to take the touchscreen out though as I already have the one from the KP2 in my guitar.

I guess most people are on this page because they’re interested in a guitar with an xy pad in it. I’m gonna make and sell one over the next month. If anyone’s interested, friend me on youtube or send a message. It’ll be the Matt Bellamy shape of guitar with a fernandes sustainer and maybe a killswitch.